Didi suspends a carpooling service after passenger murder

Didi Chuxing is suspending one of its carpooling services in China for a week following the murder of a female passenger.

Didi said in a statement on Friday it was suspending Hitch -- an app that allows people to share a ride with a registered driver -- starting Saturday. It said it will review the service, its drivers and customer service.

Chinese state media reported Friday that the suspect in the murder of a young flight attendant is still on the run, and was seen fleeing from the scene and abandoning a car. Didi confirmed the woman was using Hitch.

Hitch is one of 13 services Didi offers in China. Didi said its other services will remain operational.

A spokesperson said Hitch accounts for a "small portion of Didi's service." Didi Express, its main service, accounts for 80% of the company's business in terms of the number of rides.

The male suspect used his father's Hitch account, breaching the service's rules, according to Didi. The company said the father had passed the verification process and criminal background checks required by the company.

But Didi admitted faults in its safety processes, and said its "responsibilities in this case are undeniable."

"Our original night safety mechanism was defective so that the night mode face recognition mechanism was not triggered before the driver took the order," the company said in a statement.